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How to fundraise using a blog

Creating a community around your charity website is a great way to encourage repeat visitors, spread the word about your cause and build a loyal follower group. We always talk about how content is king and a blog on a website is a clever way to continually add new content.

The difference between writing blogs and posting on Twitter/Facebook is that you have more room to manoeuvre. You have more space to promote and talk in depth about your cause and what you are raising funds for. Your blog posts are your window of opportunity to provide more information about your cause and hit home with the message you are trying to communicate.

Here are a few pointers on what to consider when fundraising with a blog:

Things you'll need

A website / blogging platform.

Internet connection

A passion for writing and a strong cup of coffee ;)

1

Before you begin

Think about what you are fundraising for and plan what you can blog about

What are you raising money for? Before starting to blog, think through the messages you want to communicate to your audience, how they affect your cause and even think about what kind of a response you want to generate.

Think about how you can connect with your potential donors

Think about the tone you want to use and use your blog to show some personality about your cause and charity. Make your post relevant, topical, think about including some opinions, data etc. Real life stories work well as does inviting contributors to write for your blog. Nothing hits home more than true to life stories that people can relate to. Consider what will make a connection with potential donors. What do they want to read, see and feel to get them to click on your donate button?

Think about a realistic timeframe

Be realistic on how often you can blog. Think about what you want to say and what information you will need to collate if any, for your post. This all takes some time so make sure you give yourself space to compile your information and put it together. Don’t forget to make sure the timeframe suits the nature of the particular fundraiser too.

Remember your plan for blog posts is not rigid. News or events can change at any time and if something current comes up connected to your fundraiser and you think it’s worth posting about – go ahead. For example, information such as how far you have got with the fundraising target is a constant changer!

2

Writing the blog

Introduce your fundraiser

There is no value in asking someone to donate to your cause if they do not know what it is. Introduce the fundraiser and use the post to draw up some excitement about it. This is a great starting point to stir up motivation and get people talking about it.

Communicate your message, target and timescale

Use this opportunity to voice your key messages and the timescale. Let your donors know what they need to do to help and how they can join in.

If you have a fundraising target make that clear in all of your posts and update people regularly with news of where you are with your target and how long they have left to donate their money or time.

Encourage Discussion

Your aim for is for people to take an interest in what you are writing so that they comment on what you have said. Give them some food for thought so that they feel free to raise their opinions, comments or even share their own stories. Aim to make your audience want more!

Post some images or video

Photos or videos are a good way of promoting a fundraiser too. They provide a visual impression of what you are trying to achieve or who you are trying to help. Visual content can be quite effective in reinforcing the message of where the help is needed. Use images or video within your posts or create galleries of previous/related fundraisers as case studies showcasing how successful they were.

On the Donate 4 Charity website you can see an example of a video clip about Alastair Stewart OBE visit to Srebrenica integrated with the post.

Make sure your donate button can be seen

The main aim is to get people to donate to the cause so don’t waste the opportunity. Make your donate button clearly visible on every post related to that particular fundraising event. Don’t be shy to mention and link it within your blog content too.

Include links within the post

Where relevant include links within your post. Offer links to related posts on your site, the donate button, any other coverage of your fundraiser. Do not over fill your post with links but a few related links maybe helpful for the reader and also drive traffic to your other areas of your website.

Calls to Action

Calls to action are another great way of getting your readers involved and move around the website. You can include call to action buttons around the blog, this could be your donate now button, offer readers to subscribe to the mailing list to receive notifications of new blog posts, the latest social media feeds etc. Lifeline – The Great Ormond Street Children’s Charity Blog is a good example for this; you can see all the calls to action on the right hand side of all blog posts.

3

Your blog is ready

Read, read and read again!

Always read your post several times, before actually posting online. It’s the basic check for grammar, spelling and just to make sure you have got your message across accordingly.

Twitter & Facebook

Just because you have used a blog post that doesn’t mean you cannot use your social media pages to share it. Add the headline of your post on your Facebook status or Tweet it. The more ways you can drive traffic to your post the better for your charity and your fundraising target.

Offer social media links so that the reader can sign up to follow you from your site as on the Charity Challenge blog.

SEO

Keywords are important. Make sure your blog posts use the relevant keywords to help with SEO to make sure search engines find them easily.

4

Something to take away…

Fundraising with a blog gives you the space and portal to promote your cause and connect with your online community. It is an easy way to share information, thoughts and opinions in a quick and effective manner which in return will draw in donations.

Provoking thought and debate, a blog is a good way to generate an immediate response and get your fundraising campaign up and running.

Why not take a moment and tell us about a charity or fundraiser blog that you think has been done well or why not tell us about your fundraising blog via our comments form below.